The Fire Lady
by LapsusAngelus18
Summary: Re-uploaded! Summary inside. R&R, please!


**A/N: Okay, folks, so this is my second attempt at writing Zutara. I'm hoping it doesn't _suck._ After re-reading _The Fire Lady, _I realized that I was vaguely disgusted with myself, for having posted such rubbish. So, think of this as a blessed redux. Here's to hoping it goes well!**

**EDIT: This has been re-uploaded... again to fix spelling errors, punctuation errors, and other minor issues that I noticed after re-watching the series.**

**Summary: AU. Set directly after the end of the war. In a world where Aang and Katara are nothing more than friends, Zuko confesses that he's been in love with the waterbender ever since she'd offered to heal his scar in the Catacombs under Ba Sing Se. How will our favorite waterbender react? Rated M for later chapters, R&R, please!**

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**Third Person Point of View – Katara**

Katara lay in bed, wide awake, too wired to sleep. The war was finally over. She and her friends were free to go back to their normal lives.

Just as soon as Zuko cleared them to leave the Fire Nation, that is.

While they were in no way being forced to stay there against their will, the new Fire Lord was concerned that some groups still loyal to his father would try to avenge his loss by making an attempt on the Avatar's life. He'd suggested that they stay for a while, as guests in the Fire Nation palace, and they had agreed. Because, let's face it. After months on end of sleeping on hard forest floors and enduring the ever changing weather of the four nations, they deserved a break.

Katara, however, was restless. After spending countless hours, days, weeks, _months_ worrying about everyone else, she was having trouble now thinking of just herself.

With a frustrated sigh, the waterbender decided that she needed to clear her head. She rolled to her feet, abandoning the plush Fire Nation bed, and wandering from the room.

She wasn't really sure where she was going, as she hadn't yet taken the time to explore the expansive palace, but it occurred to her that she didn't _care._ Anything was better than lying awake, worrying herself with thoughts of tomorrow.

The interior of the palace was comprised of winding hallways, and more rooms than Katara thought necessary, while the exterior was ringed with perfect courtyard gardens, each with their own apparent ecosystem. It was in one of those courtyards that she wound up, standing beside a small pond, and gazing up at the moon. Before she knew it, she'd fallen into the waterbending routine she'd been practicing since she was a little girl.

The gentle push and pull of the element calmed her racing mind, and she smiled.

"Can't sleep?" a voice asked, startling her into losing focus, and dropping the water whip she'd been working with. Spinning on her heel, her eyes fell upon Zuko, leaning casually against the wall.

"A warning next time would be nice..." she grumbled in response, ignoring the way her breath had caught at the sight of him. That had been another thing plaguing her – the sudden attraction she felt towards the man who's face had once been the one she'd picture when she thought of the word 'evil'.

The Fire Lord smirked, coming into the courtyard.

"Sorry," he muttered, but for some reason, Katara didn't believe him. She straightened from the defensive stance her body had immediately taken, watching Zuko as he moved to sit on the ornate stone bench near the pond.

"Why are you awake so late?" she asked after several moments. Zuko shrugged, turning his face up towards the night sky.

"I rarely sleep anymore." he muttered. "You'd think the war ending would make sleeping easier, but it's done the exact opposite."

Katara nodded, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"I'm with you there," she sighed, taking a seat beside him on the bench. "It's not easy, going from worrying about everyone and planning everything down to the last detail, to... relaxing."

Zuko chuckled, shaking his head.

"You're lucky you get to relax." he muttered darkly. Katara cut him a glance.

"Your father still hasn't told you, has he." she murmured. It wasn't a question. Zuko laughed harshly, lowering his head as he did so. His hair, unbound when away from the demands of court, fell into his face.

"The man enjoys toying with me." he replied. "All he'll tell me for sure is that she's alive somewhere."

Katara nodded, remaining silent. While she would help Zuko with whatever he needed, when the time came in which his father revealed enough for the Fire Lord to find his mother, Katara couldn't help but be jealous. The one thing they had shared and bonded over was the fact that the Fire Nation had taken their mothers from them. But now that Zuko knew that his mother was _not_ dead, and in fact simply banished... Katara felt more alone than she would have thought possible.

"And if trying to riddle out my father's infuriating non-answers wasn't difficult enough, the Fire Sages are pressuring me to marry." Zuko continued, unaware of her thoughts. Katara, grateful for a distraction from her selfish thoughts, grasped at this.

"Have you asked Mai yet?" she asked, hating the way her words turned upwards at the end with a jealous lilt. Zuko didn't seem to notice.

"Nah... Mai and I broke up shortly after my coronation." he mumbled, not looking up. Katara arched a brow, ignoring the thrill that raced through her.

"Why?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even. Zuko's shoulders heaved in a shrug.

"She's different." he replied. "As much as I've tried to ignore it, and as much as she's tried to deny it, her time with Azula during my banishment changed her. She's not the same."

Katara couldn't stop the dry chuckle in response to that, and Zuko glanced up at her.

"You can't really be surprised," she muttered. "Prolonged exposure to Azula would have that effect on most everyone."

Zuko smirked at this, looking down again.

"I guess I was just hoping that she was above that." he said softly. Katara mentally cursed her stupidity.

"Zuko, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." she muttered, trailing off at a loss of what to say. Zuko shook his head, straightening his spine as he sat up and turned his head to look at her.

"It's fine." he replied. "She's not the only one to have changed."

Katara nodded, smiling a bit.

"No," she agreed. "She most definitely is not."

Zuko smiled a little, before looking up at the moon, its light casting a dappled shade on the grass through the tree branches overhead.

"And besides," he muttered. "I had someone else in mind."

Katara frowned quickly, smoothing the expressing as Zuko cast a sideways glance over at her.

"That's great!" she said, trying to sound cheerful, but unable to keep the sarcastic bite from her tone. Zuko smiled a little bit.

"You probably know her." he said, returning his eyes back to the moon. "She's a waterbender, too."

Katara mentally cursed, her mind immediately conjuring images of the eligible female members of the Foggy Swamp tribe.

"Is that so," she heard herself grumble. She completely missed the amused, knowing grin Zuko sent her way.

"Yeah... we had a rocky start, and it took imprisonment together for me to realize my feelings for her." he replied. Katara, still locked in her jealousy, thought back to the time Zuko and Sokka had infiltrated the Boiling Rock, Zuko posing as a prisoner in order to rescue her father and Suki. Had there been other waterbenders there?

"Well, I hope you two will be very happy together." Katara nearly growled, getting to her feet and resuming her waterbending pose. She didn't hear Zuko stand, until he was right behind her.

"I hope so, too." he said softly, his voice at her ear. Katara whirled, to find Zuko gazing down at her with sudden intensity.

"Zuko?" she whispered, her heart leaping into her throat at his nearness.

"It's you, Katara." he said, his voice low. "It has been for months now."

Katara blinked. Had she just heard him right?

"I... um. What?" she mumbled brilliantly, all rational responses leaving her head in a rush. Zuko's eyes lit with a smile, and he chuckled a little bit.

"I love you, Katara. I have since the crystal catacombs under Ba Sing Se." Katara's mind put the pieces of what he'd said together in a blinding rush.

_"...and it took imprisonment together for me to realize my feelings for her."_

"Wow..." she muttered. "Wow. I mean... um... wow."

Zuko peered at her, his brow arched.

"Well that's not the reaction I'd been hoping for." he muttered. Katara lifted her eyes to meet his, and the hurt look on his face absolutely destroyed her.

"No, Zuko... I suppose this was." she murmured, closing the distance between them, throwing her arms around his neck, and fitting her mouth to his.

A powerful shudder went through Zuko's body, and a sound that resembled a relieved sob rocked Katara to her core as his arms wrapped around her, and he returned her kiss almost desperately.

She clung to him, and he to her, as they stood locked together in an embrace that they had both waited months for.

When Zuko finally broke their kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers. She was still wrapped tightly in his arms, and from the look on his face, Zuko was not planing on letting her go anytime soon.

"Katara..." he whispered, and she smiled shyly up at him.

"I love you, too, by the way." she said quietly, and Zuko's answering smile was enough to make her want to weep.

He backed up a step, taking her hand as he led her back over to the bench.

"I asked your brother how to go about this, because I wasn't sure... and I wasn't even sure if you felt the same way, but I figured that I had to try..." he mumbled, looking a little awkward as they sat down together. Katara blinked.

"Wait, you told _Sokka?_ And he didn't kill you?" she asked. Zuko chuckled.

"Yeah, I was surprised, too." he admitted, before giving her a shy smile. "Anyway... I just... I know it's tradition in the Water Tribes... and even though I'm not from the Water Tribes... I still felt that I should do this..."

Katara stilled as Zuko reached into the pocket of his robes. What he presented her with took her breath away. The necklace charm was carved from the same ocean blue stone that her mother's had been, the ribbon it was fastened to the same dark blue silk. The only difference was the carving.

On the top half of the charm, the unmistakeable rays of the sun reached downward, the tips just brushing the elegant inner curve of the crescent moon that took up the bottom half.

"The carving took more than one stone... okay, there were several stones... but I wanted it to be perfect... just in case you said yes." Zuko mumbled.

Katara's hand flew up to her mouth, and tears came to her eyes as she continued to stare down at the beautiful betrothal necklace he'd carved for her.

"Are you asking me to marry you?" she whispered finally, looking up at him. Zuko smiled a little bit, nodding shyly.

"I've already asked for your father's blessing. It took hours of explaining, and pleading with him, but he finally granted it, and... well... yes. I'm asking you to marry me." he said softly. "Will you? Marry me?"

Katara remained silent for longer than she probably should have, simply staring at him. Yes, she loved Zuko. She had for a very long time. But was she ready to marry him? Doing so would mean becoming his Fire Lady, which was something that she didn't think she was ready for... however, marrying him would be a grand show of unification, something that the world desperately needed. Sure, the fact that Zuko had forsaken his own family in order to put an end to the war helped to present an image of unity, but a marriage between the daughter of the chief of the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Lord...

Ever since she had seen Yue's pain at being forced to accept a proposal of marriage to someone she didn't love, Katara had sworn to herself that she would never enter into a marriage for political reasons.

But as she looked at Zuko's hopeful expression, as she remembered his declaration of love for her, as well as her own feelings... she realized that marrying Zuko wouldn't _just _be political. Marrying Zuko would be magical.

"Yes..." she finally whispered. "Yes, of course I'll marry you."

Zuko's face lit with a bright grin, as he lurched forward and tugged her into his arms. She laughed a little at his reaction, returning his embrace.

The Fire Lord – _her _Fire Lord stood after a few moments, and Katara reached up to remove her mother's necklace. Smiling down at it, she rubbed her thumb across its surface, tears rolling down her cheek.

"I'm sorry, mom." she whispered, turning her head slightly to smile at Zuko who had knelt behind her. "I have my own necklace, now."

Zuko smiled gently, as she moved her hair out of the way. He fastened the new necklace in place, before kissing the exposed curve of her neck.

"I love you." he whispered, and she smiled, twisting around and kissing him.

"I love you, too." she replied, leaning back against him. Zuko held her gently, his chin resting on her shoulder.

"We will inform everyone tomorrow, after my meeting with the Earth King and Aang." he murmured, excitement threading through his voice. Katara smiled, giddy.

"I can hardly wait."


End file.
